Donald Trump on Sunday gave an inclination of the Republican
strategy for boosting Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) in his
primary against former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

At a speech in Iowa on Sunday, the Republican presidential
front-runner initially couldn't help going after Sanders,
but noted that it may be better strategically for him to hold his
fire and let Sanders duke it out with Clinton.

"This guy Bernie Sanders, give me a break," Trump said.

"We haven't even focused on, I mean here's a guy who's a — they
say socialist, but some people say he's a communist," Trump
continued. "I shouldn't hit him too hard though, because if
I hit him too hard then he'll go down, and it'll be a fight with
Hillary, and maybe we want a fight for a while. So I'll say,
'Isn't he a wonderful guy?'"

Trump also said his attacks on Clinton were the reason that
Sanders has risen in the polls, particularly in early states.

"They're saying, 'Bernie Sanders is surging. It's amazing.'
I did that!" Trump said. "I can hit him. I have stuff in mind. I
would hit him so hard he would drop."

A few audience members told him to do it anyway, but Trump
demurred.

"No, he's too easy. He's really too easy," he said.

Republicans have increasingly taken Sanders' side in his primary
against Clinton.

For his part, Sanders has frequently touted hypothetical
head-to-head matchups that show him beating Trump in a
general-election contest, though such early polls aren't
generally predictive of races months out.

"There would be nothing more in this world that I would like to
take on Donald Trump," Sanders said on "Meet The Press" on
Sunday. "We would beat him, and we would beat him badly."